- - Christopher Meloni Settles Debate Whether “SVU ”or “OC ”Stabler Is Sexier — and Explains Why 'My Ass Is a Conundrum'

Alex RossNovember 7, 2025 at 6:30 PM

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Christopher Meloni loves an innuendo.

“For [Olivia] Benson and [Elliot] Stabler to get together, it’s hard! Hard,” Meloni says, immediately erupting into laughter. "Am I blushing?"

The seasoned actor, 64, has spent the better part of his career as brusque but beloved NYPD detective Elliot Stabler, a role he first landed on NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in 1999 opposite Mariska Hargitay.

After departing SVU in 2011, he reprised his character in 2021 for his own L&O spinoff series. "Organized Crime Stabler is sexier,” Meloni tells PEOPLE as he joins the ranks of our 2025 Sexiest Man Alive issue. “There’s a certain fine wine quality to him.”

There’s also that now infamous beard — which, for the record, was Meloni’s idea — that continues to generate debate among fans.

"Elliot's beard, it's going to get its own credit [on the show]. I'll say this. I thought from the comments it was rather controversial, but it was this idea of a physical manifestation of the trauma that he'd gone through," he says. "Maybe him wanting to cover up or hide or be someone else or go away from who he was when he lost his wife, and then coming back. So I just thought about it and came up with it."

Gavin Bond

Chris Meloni in rag & bone denim shirt, jeans, twill coat & boots.

With each passing season of Organized Crime (season five is currently airing on NBC and can be streamed on Peacock) one question remains: Will Stabler end up with Benson?

“Oh, I have the energy, just not the time,” he insists, eyebrows wagging. “They should ride off into the sunset.”

And that double entendre wasn’t even intentional.

What's the best part about perpetually coming back to play famous TV cop Elliot Stabler? You can't get away from him.

What's the best part? It is a comfortable place. It is a place I know very well, and yet I'm not tired of doing. It's good storytelling with people that I like to work with. When they asked me to do OC, I'd never had this feeling. It was a little bit like going home.

What do you have in common with Elliot as a character?

Neither of us is quite as patient as we'd like to be. But I think most people have this: When you see obvious injustice, that thing wells up inside you and you look around like, "Am I the only one who sees it? This is unfair." And it almost invariably happens to the ones without a voice.

How are you different?

Elliot lives in this state of frustration because he wants the world to be in a place of justice. He has a very, very strict straight moral fiber to him, and he acts upon that. He's chosen a profession where he gets to do his closest imitation of being a superhero. I don't have that. I don't activate that way.

One of the reasons people love Elliot, and especially now with Organized Crime, is because we get to see more of his life beyond just the job.

That's the Elliot Stabler thing. When I got the part, I thought after reading the script, "Wow. This is a really stressful job," because the bulk of what you're dealing with are women and children. So, I asked [creator] Dick Wolf if I could have four children instead of three. I gave Elliot what I had built in my head. The first part of which was a girlfriend who got knocked up, so I had to marry her to make it legitimate because I'm a good Catholic and I loved her. Then the last two kids weren't planned, and they're twins! I found it funny, but I also went, "Man, this is... [a lot]." I kept wanting to dollop on top of Stabler. He's a guy who handles pressure.

Well, Stabler ended up with five kids. Was the fifth one your idea, too?

No. No. I wanted to stop the whole damn thing at four.

Gavin Bond

Chris Meloni in rag & bone poplin shirt, tuxedo trouser.

What's Stabler's most attractive quality?

I think — according to the fandom — my ass.

Well, is that his quality or yours? Who gets credit for that?

Wow. Such a conundrum. My ass is a conundrum. Or do I have two conundrums? One on the left, one on the right? A double conundrum [laughs].

What's the sexiest part of the Benson/Stabler relationship?

Gosh. How well they know each other in an unspoken way, and I think it's the depth of their friendship. And they've made these stabs or these attempts at making this thing another thing.

What's your ideal ending for Stabler, if you could pick?

Some conclusion to Benson and Stabler. I think both characters, Stabler and Benson, should ride off into the sunset.

When you first landed the role, did you feel ready — or did you have imposter syndrome?

No. There was no imposter syndrome because I'd been working long enough in the business and had been hired by [NYPD Blue's] David Milch or [Oz's] Tom Fontanas, all these showrunners, the big wigs. I felt as though I'd earned it. When I auditioned for the role, I was like, "I'm this guy. If they don't hire me, that's fine. It's their mistake, but I'm this guy."

When you get together to film with SVU mainstays like Mariska and Dann Florek, does it feel like it's 1999 again, or do you feel the passage of time?

I think there are echoes and remembrances. It's a very unique feeling when we get together. No one else can bridge that gap or has that journey or has that connection. You're sitting across from a person like, "You're old and I'm old and it's all good." And all the damn "cops" surrounding us are babies. Like, you're going to solve the crime? Shouldn't you be playing with Play-Doh? Come on.

Gavin Bond

Chris Meloni in rag & bone denim shirt, trucker, jeans & leather belt.

Are there any people in your life who are fans of the show? Who watch you religiously?

When my mother was alive, she cherished [SVU] because I think, A) her boy had made it, and B) he was playing a hero. Because the other show I did, when I started to get a little hot, it was "Mom, I'm going to play a omni-sexual serial killer on a prison drama." So, she didn't see any episode [of Oz]. But at any rate, her watching SVU was a big deal to me.

Will there be a sixth season of Organized Crime?

I don't know if there's going to be another. You're asking for America. But season five is airing on NBC this fall.

You've called this your second act. Why do you look at this as a renaissance?

I think there was a youthful me and now, I have a little vitality, but I'm definitely an older model. But that doesn't bother me in the least. It's, "Let's see if you can get a job looking like this." And I'm glad the answer is "Yes."

Do you have a celebrity crush?

Well, one time I was at this celebration of an acting teacher's life, and Kate Winslet was there. I went home and I told my wife because I couldn't stop looking at her — and I'm not usually that guy. I was making excuses to look at Kate Winslet; she was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. I never should have told my wife all this. She's never forgiven me. Or rather, she's never let me forget. But to see Kate Winslet in real life? I went, "Oh my God." And she's earthy and she's ballsy. She's cool.

What's something you stick by in your marriage that makes it work?

Not being apart for too long. It used to be three weeks, and that is the zone. But allowing that freedom, though, knowing that you have a zone. And I'm a big fan of "I love you" with my wife and children. My kids are always telling me they love me still, too.

How do you unwind after filming? What do you do once you go home?

I can't tell you that.

Gavin Bond

Chris Meloni for PEOPLE's Sexiest Man Alive issue

What's the workout routine these days?

A lot of mobility work, but interspersed with heavy compound movements. The deadlifts, squats and all that. I hear I'm not supposed to because I guess you lose bone density [as you age]. It's risk versus reward, but I like that feeling. I like the feeling of being able to lift what are, for me, heavy weights.

Current guilty pleasure?

I have chocolate every once in a while. Once a week.

Dark chocolate? Milk chocolate?

Dark chocolate. My God, woman! Milk chocolate? My God.

What do you find sexy?

A sense of humor. Grounded-ness. Not taking oneself too seriously. Those are all qualities that are attracting. If I'm attracted to someone, there is a sexiness involved.

Credits

Photographer Gavin Bond

Cinematographer Josh Herzog

Groomer Natasha Leibel / La Mer, Saie & Wahl Professional / The Only Agency

Set Design Wanted PD

Stylist rag & bone

Location Jane Ives Studio Soho

on People

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”